Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Title: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Author: Anne Frank
Publishing: Bantam, Reprint Edition. June 1st, 1993.
Synopsis: The diary of Anne Frank begins when a little girl named Anne received a diary from her parents on her 13th birthday. She names her diary Kitty and at first writes things that normal 13 year old girls would write about even today: daily events, thoughts school grades, and boys. But within a months time all of that changes. Anne Frank lived during Hitler's rule, a time when when living in Germany-occupied Holland as a Jew meant living in constant fear. When Anne's older sister Margo got called before authorities, meaning almost certainly that she would be sent to a concentration camp, Anne's family decided to go into hiding in a small hidden section of Anne's father's workplace they called the secret annex. This secret annex was hidden by a movable staircase, and would be the Frank family's home for the next two years, as well as home to another family called the van Daans and their son Peter as well as an old dentist by the name of Mr. Dussell. They are forced to live in a cramped space being silent almost all the time, and being shocked by the gun fire at night. While in the annex, Anne continues her education by reading and listening to the radio. Her one friend proves to be her trusted diary. Throughout her diary entries, Anne discusses the things she is learning as well as a budding friendship between herself and Peter van Daan. Eventually her tone changes to excitement when she hears that the war is almost over. She then loses this sense of optimism as the war rolls on. Anne Frank begins to feel more and more lonely in the annex and she feels as though no one likes her in the annex. She begins to feel angry toward her family and the other members of the annex only to feel guilty about her angry feelings. This is where the diary ends, shortly after which Anne's family is discovered by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps.
This book is very interesting in that it is an autobiography in the form of a diary. The author Anne writes in a way in which her tone always comes out clear. It is interesting to see her tone progression throughout the diary starting from a happy content tone, to a fearful nervous tone, to an optimistic tone and finally to a sad and angry tone. The rollercoaster of emotion that comes through in Anne's writing makes this story unique and interesting to read.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I am interested in history in general but particularly interested in the holocaust. I think its amazing in the most terrible way possible that the murder of six million people could be allowed to go on for the amount of time that it did. Reading Anne Frank's diary gives amazingly invaluable insight into what life was like as a jewish person during the holocaust and Anne's writing is so eloquent and revealing that it makes for an insightful and riveting read.
In using this book to teach, I would definitely use this book along with a unit on the holocaust and what it meant to be a Jewish person during this time. I would also definitely do a novel study with this book and I found a sample one on another teacher's blog that can be found here: http://annefranknovelstudy.blogspot.com
I also found a well done book trailer for Anne Frank's diary that can be viewed below:
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